Privately-held Kenyan firm says plans to buy 23 pct stake in Britam

Plum said it expected the acquisition was expected to be completed by July 31 and would raise its shareholding to 38.54 percent. Youtube.

Kenya's Plum LLP plans to buy a 23.34 percent stake in insurer British-American Investments Co (Britam) that had been seized by the government of Mauritius from a disgraced businessman in 2015, the privately owned firm said on Monday.

Plum said it expected the acquisition was expected to be completed by July 31 and would raise its shareholding in Britam to 38.54 percent. It gave no financial details.

Mauritius seized the stake from Dawood Rawat in April 2015 after accusing him of running a Ponzi-like scheme through a Mauritian insurer.

At the time, Minister for Financial Services Sudarshan Bhadain said that an offer from another operator “could not go through because the existing shareholders in Kenya were not willing to allow third parties into their company."

Rawat, who has been in France since last year, has filed a case before the International Court of Arbitration against the government of Mauritius, asking for $1 billion in compensation, claiming illegal appropriation of Britam by the state.

"The partners of Plum LLP ... determined to purchase the acquisition shares so as to provide Britam and its shareholders the time they require to identify a strategic investor with the institutional fit to drive Britam's growth in the future," Plum said.

Britam also has operations in Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Mozambique and Malawi.﻿